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Sept. 10, 1982 – Johnson & Johnson management learned that its premiere product, Extra-Strength Tylenol, had been used to kill three people.

And over the next few days, three more people died from swallowing Tylenol capsules loaded with cyanide.

The Background

At the time, Tylenol held 35% of the $1 billion market and Johnson & Johnson had not been – nor ever had to be – a very high-profile company. CEO James Burke had never appeared on TV or done interviews.

Johnson & Johnson’s Reaction

Immediately, Johnson & Johnson open its doors to the media.

Even though the company was confident that the poisonings had not occurred at any of its plants, they recalled 93,000 bottles associated with the Chicago murders. And they communicated warnings to doctors, hospitals, distributors and suspended all advertising.

However, the FBI was worried about copycat poisonings; and after one occurred in California five days later, Johnson & Johnson did not hesitate and willingly recalled all Extra-Strength Tylenol – 31 million bottles – at a loss of more than $100 million.

Johnson & Johnson resumed limited advertising, but with a focused message promising to exchange capsules for tablets and continued aggressive grassroots PR through letters to the trade and statements to the media.

Johnson & Johnson went on to offer a $100,000 reward for the killer(s).

The Public’s Reaction

Johnson & Johnson commissioned a survey which found 87% of Tylenol users did not blame the company, but 61% still said they were not likely to buy Tylenol capsules in the future.

The Relaunch

The company shocked the business and marketing communities by planning an aggressive relaunch of the product in a new triple-safety-sealed, tamper-resistant package.

An all-out PR/media blitz was launched to ensure the public understood its commitment, including a bold invitation to 60 Minutes to film and investigate their internal strategy sessions in preparation of the new product launch.

The Result

Mike Wallace said that although Wall Street had written off the company, it was now, “hedging its bets because of Johnson & Johnson’s stunning campaign of facts, money, the media, and truth.”

By early 1983, Tylenol had recaptured 95% of its prior market share and company morale was higher than ever.

A hotline, the company set-up after the first incident, received 15,000 phone calls.

Johnson & Johnson’s Reaction

CEO Burke held a press conference the very next day – “I’m heartsick. We didn’t believe it could happen again, and nobody else did either.”

Production of Tylenol capsules was halted permanently, costing the company more than $150 million.

Johnson & Johnson offered to replace all capsules with new Tylenol caplets, a solid form of medication less tamper-prone.

The Public’s Reaction

Just two weeks after the tragedy, President Reagan said, “Jim Burke of Johnson & Johnson, you have our deepest appreciation for living up to the highest ideals of corporate responsibility and grace under pressure.”

Today, nearly 30 years after the first issue, in virtually every study of corporate reputation, Johnson & Johnson is rated #1.

“Words such as firemen, manpower, housewife, cripple, midget, and Negro may be considered offensive.”

“A person who is thin my indeed be considered highly attractive. But along came 50 Cent and Kanye West and Jay-Z and hip-hop, and pretty soon “phat” became one of the baddest of the bad and the coolest of the cool.”

What: Create a coverage report. Select, read and analyze at least five recent articles about your client and/or their competition. Write brief summaries of each article and an overall summary of the coverage as a whole.

When: Due Thursday, Feb. 2

Where: Bring it to class Thursday, Feb. 2 or else

Why: Because this is something you will actually have to do in your first PR job. A lot. The goal is to make it simple for your boss – she doesn’t have to track down the stories – you have found them, and provided clean, concise analysis. You should be focused on what is being said, what the media is focusing on, the media’s different angles (you need to find multiple voices/opinions), and how the competition is responding, so as to help inform overarching strategy. Think hard about how you can make it easier more useful for your boss.